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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Combination of two or more keys being played at the same time.






2. A short light musical drama.






3. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






4. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






5. Arranging a piece of music for an orchestra. Also - the study of music.






6. System of notes or tones based on and named after the key note.






7. One or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment.






8. The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.






9. Primary theme or subject that is developed.






10. Three note chords consisting of a root - third - and fifth.






11. Word to indicate that the movement or entire composition is to be played smoothly.






12. Slow and stately dance music written in triple time.






13. 3 or 4 notes played simultaneously in harmony.






14. Suite of Baroque dances.






15. A quick - improvisational - spirited piece of music.






16. Successive notes of a key or mode either ascending or descending.






17. Includes all twelve notes of an octave.






18. A musical form where the melody or tune is imitated by individual parts at regular intervals. The individual parts may enter at different measures and pitches. The tune may also be played at different speeds - backwards - or inverted.






19. A rhythmic succession of musical tones - a melody for instruments and voices.






20. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






21. A chord progression that seems to lead to resolving itself on the final chord; but does not.






22. Group of singers in a chorus.






23. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






24. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.






25. A composition based on previous work. A common technique used in Medieval and Renaissance music.






26. A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance.






27. A lighthearted piece - written in several movements - usually as background music for a social function.






28. A form of music written for marching in two-step time. Originally the march was used for military processions.






29. Creating variation pitch in a note by quickly alternating between notes.






30. The first violin in an orchestra.






31. Word to indicate the movement or entire composition is to be played gracefully.






32. A direction in sheet music indicating the tempo is to be very fast.






33. The performance of either all instruments of an orchestra or voices in a chorus.






34. Movement or passage that concludes the musical composition.






35. An instruction in sheet music to play softly. Abbreviated by a 'p'.






36. Pertaining to the fugue - the overlapping of the same theme or motif by two or more voices a few beats apart.






37. A direction to play expressively.






38. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.






39. A reprise.






40. The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.






41. Lowest female singing voice.






42. Tones used to embellish the principal melodic tone.






43. The movement of chords in succession.






44. Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position.For example: C sharp and D flat.






45. Music written for a lively French dance for two performers written in triple time.






46. Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.






47. Refers to any great composer - conductor - or teacher of music.






48. Three to four movement orchestral piece - generally in sonata form.






49. Atonal and violent style used as a means of evoking heightened emotions and states of mind.






50. A piece of music written in triple time. Also an old French dance.